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Indonesia: Acehnese Flies Separatist Flag In Defiance Of Jakarta
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Just barely after Jakarta made public its offer for autonomy and the imposition of Islamic Law in Aceh, the restive province saw a myriad of separatist flags flown by Acehnese residents.
Banda Aceh, the capital city of the violence torn province, was calm on Sunday, but a wave of silent protest could be seen all over the province. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) scored points with thousands of independence flags flown across Aceh in defiance of the ban to hoist them during the commemoration of the movement’s 24th anniversary on Monday.
Flags were flown in fences along the streets, schools and mosques in Banda Aceh municipality, as well as in Aceh Besar and West Aceh districts.
In villages, the flags were also flown on trees and rice fields. The Indonesian government said the GAM had very little support in Aceh and that external forces alien to the province controlled it.
Unlike Irian Jaya, the Acehnese seem decided to gain control of the political life of their home province, observers told IslamOnline, adding that there seem to be a gross misunderstanding of the real situation on the ground by the Indonesian leadership.
The GAM has not made a unilateral declaration of independence as it proposed still leaving the door open to negotiations with the central government. Sources say they would rather negotiate with a team of officials and ministers rather than with Indonesian President Abdurahman Wahid.
Wahid has made strong statements against separatism in Indonesia. He urged officials to warn the Acehnese not to fly the banned GAM flags. Kusbini Imbar, of the official but unpopular ''Love Meunasah Operation'', said security personnel will take stern action against any group that ignores the ban on flag hosting.
In a tactical move, leaders of the separatist movement called on the people to mull over the consequences before deciding to hoist the flag. They were told to avoid clashes with Indonesian security personnel.
Besides the $10 million offer to the GAM and the Acehnese to come to the negotiation table and settle the crisis in Aceh, Wahid, also for the first time, officially offered Islamic Law to be implemented in the province.
Wahid earlier said he believed a final solution to Aceh’s problems was to give the people what they wanted. He said, according to his sources, that the Acehnese would be satisfied with assistance and with the offer of the Islamic Law implementation.
Islamic observers contacted by IslamOnline said the GAM would reject the offers and instead press on for a referendum. They said the Indonesian government is trying to limit the damage in Aceh by dividing the people over its offers.
They told IslamOnline that there is an ongoing war of influence that started Sunday with Jakarta hoping that its offers will erode the power and support base of the GAM.
However, they added that the GAM was not the Irian Jaya. ''It is a full fledge[d] military organization which has so far succeeded in fending off the much feared Armed forces of Indonesia (TNI) in a guerilla warfare.''
Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh backed Wahid’s offer for the implementation of Islamic Law in Aceh. The type of law that is being offered to the Acehnese does not include any of the set of strict Shariah laws such as stoning and hand cutting. It will merely be a rubber stamp law enforcing conservative morals and Islamic banking.
IslamOnline was told that the Acehnese expect more than that and would not consider anything but a referendum. They said the offer of Islamic Law implementation was simply to avoid a referendum in the province, which will surely show a strong plebiscite for independence.
The GAM and the Acehnese people, it is said, do not believe in the promises made by Jakarta anymore. More than 160 people have died since the renewal of the Humanitarian Pause in September.
There has been no sign of improvements in human rights abuses by the police and military in the province, as well as no change in the distribution of wealth from the resources ''exploited'' by Jakarta in the province.
Aceh is resource rich, it produces gas and oil and has other minerals that are being extracted from the province. The revenues from these transactions are largely ''hijacked'' by the central government.
The government failed to force the imposition of civil emergency status in Aceh, showing strong division among the political elite in Jakarta on how to handle the province’s long years of separatism.
GAM was founded on December 4, 1976. It has been battling Indonesian rule ever since. Thousands of people have died in the province during the past decade.
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